Door connector



United States PatentO DOOR CONNECTOR Paul R. Ferguson, Plainville, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application February 2, 1956, Serial No. 562,958

Claims. (Cl. 287-53) This invention relates to improved means for mounting a door hinge arm on the pintle of a door operating or checking mechanism.

In connecting a door hinge arm and door of the center hung type to a door operator or a door check, the operator or check is usually provided with a pintle having a pair of oppositely disposed flat surfaces tapering outwardly from one end of the spindle and the hinge arm is correspondingly provided with a rectangular pintle receiving aperture to drivingly connect the door to the pintle. In connecting an ofiset hung door to an operator or check it is usual to provide a cylindrical spindle for. the operator or check and a collar having a pintle receiving aperture on the hinge arm with means to nonrotatably connect the collar to the pintle. This use of spindles of different construction for center hung and offset hung doors, of course, results in a reduction of economy of manufacture, and thus attempts have heretofore been made to develop hinge arms for ofiset hung doors which could be utilized with spindles of the type used with center hung doors by providing a threaded member such as a setscrew on the collar of the hinge arm which is engageable' with one of the tapered surfaces of the spindle to prevent rotation of the arm relative to the spindle. Such a construction, however, is not entirely satisfactory inasmuch as the constant bearing of the end of the setscrew on the tapered side of the spindle may cause wearing of the setscrew and spindle, thus permitting an undesirable amount of relative rotation of the hinge arm and spindle, or in some cases, the weight of the door may cause the setscrew to gouge the spindle and become seized thereto, thus impeding a backing out of the setscrew and removal of the door from the spindle.

It is,'therefore, an object of thisinvention to provide a novel means for connecting a door hinge arm of the offset type to the spindle of a-door operator or check which will provide improved means for preventing relative rotation of the hinge arm and spindle, the locking characteristics of which will not deteriorate over long periods of use.

It is another object of this invention to provide that the pintle described above, while being particularly suitable for use with the door hinge arm described above, will also be suitable for use with a conventional center hung type door hinge arm.

Other objects will be in part obvious, and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of a door hinge arm and pintle incorporating the improved coupling;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary side view of the improved coupling of Fig. 1;

' jaw 7 has a threaded recess 9 which receives the threaded} portion of the clamping screw 10. The other end ofthe- Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the coupling and pintle along the lines 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the coupling and pintle along the lines 4--4 of Fig. l; and

Fig. 5 is a modification of the door hinge arm and pintle of Fig. l. I

With reference to the drawing, the door hinge arm 1 is L-shaped and has a plurality of mounting holes on its larger leg as at 2 for receiving mounting screws to secure the arm to the bottom of a door. On the end of the shorter leg of the hinge arm is a collar 3 which has a pintle receiving aperture 4 in which is received a pintle indicated at 5. In accordance with thisinvention the collar 3 is split to provide a radial slot 6 which etfece tively forms spaced apart clamping jaws 7 and 8. The

screw 10 is rotatably received in'the recess of the jaw 8 which has a shoulder 16 against which the head 17 of the bolt 10 abuts.

The pintle 5 has a keyway 20 in its upper end formed longitudinally thereof and constructed to engage the sides I ferred embodiment the key 21 is of square cross-section and the keyway 20 so formed that when the key 21 is in engagement with the collar and pintle as shown in Fig. l,-

It can thus be seen that when the hinge arm 1 is mounted at the desired vertical location on the pintle, the, clamping screw 10 may be threaded inwardly todraw the jaws 7 and 8 toward each other-and thus move the key 21 inwardlyof the pintle by a wedging action brought about by the engagement of the bearing su'rfaces.23, 24 and the sides 30, 31 of the key 21. Thejresulting wedging force on the key 21 by the jaws 7 and 8 is transmitted. to the pintle 5 by a second wedging action betweenthesides 32, 33 of the key and the correspondingly shaped pintle keyway 20. It should be apparent that the wedging force of the collar 3 is transmitted to the pintlein a.

multi-directional pattern so as to prevent rotation of the collar 3 relative to the pintle Sand also to bring abouta third wedging action between the periphery of the pintle.

opposite the key 21 and the corresponding inner diameter of the collar 3 to firmly engage the pintle with'the collar. and to prevent axial movement of the collar relative to:

the pintle. The pintle is thus wedged-securely between the inner Wall of the collar opposite the key and the key itself to prevent any movement vertically or rotationally relative to the door hinge arm.

It should be understood that While the cross-sectional shape of the key 21 is shown in its preferred embodiment there could be substituted other keys and ,keyways the cross sections of which would lend themselves to the wedging actions described above.

To assist in vertically positioning the door hinge relative to the pintle and also to a floor or other mounting surface there is provided a setscrew 40 threadably received by the collar 3 and extending inwardly of the collar. The upper end of the pintle is relieved to form inclined surfaces 41 and 42 which extend downwardly. and outwardly of the pintle and end at the shoulders 43 and 44. As can be readily seen from Fig. 4, the setscrew 1 40 in. cooperation with the inclined surface 41 maybe;

' utilized to vertically position the door with respect to the pintle. It should be noted that the provision of the pair of the inclined surfaces 41, 42 each on opposite sides of the pintle permits the use of one pintle for either left or right hand door operators or checks where the door is offset hung and also permits the pintle to be used with door hinge arms of the type used with center hung doors, which, of course, is a particular economical advantage.

It is believed that the operation of this invention will be obvious from the above description and following explanation. In brief, a door with the door arm 1 attached to the bottom thereof is mounted on the pintle at the desired height from the floor.

The clamping screw is then threaded inwardly to wedge the key 21 inwardly of the pintle 5 to rotationally lock the hinge arm with respect to the pintle, and also to wedge the pintle and arm securely together along the outer periphery of the spindle and inner wall of the collar 3 opposite the keyway to assist in preventing vertical movement therebetween. When it is desired to remove the door from the pintle, it is merely necessary to thread the screw '10 outwardly and the jaws 7 and 8 of the collar 3 will spring apart thus breaking the locking connection between the key 21 and the pintle. It is apparent that, even though the door may have been in place for a number of years, the inherent nature of the clamping action of the jaws and the key to retain the pintle immovable relative to the collar 3 will preclude the possibility of the key, collar and pintle from seizing which would make the :disassembly thereof extremely difficult. Further, inasmuch as the key connection removes a good proportion of the vertical strain on the setscrew 40 as well as preventing rotational movement of the setscrew relative to the pintle, the possibility of the setscrew gouging into the pintle and seizing is effectively prevented.

With reference to Fig. 5 of the drawing, there has been provided, in accordance with the invention, alternative means to position the door arm vertically relative to the pintle 5:: whereby the door arm 1a is supported on the upper end of the pintle 5a by means of an adjustable supporting member connected to the door arm and disposed axially of the pintle-receiving aperture 4a. In the specific embodiment of Fig. 5, the supporting member is the setscrew 50 which is threadably received in a plate member 51 and which is provided with a conical end portion 52 received and supported in a correspondingly shaped recess disposed coaxially of the pintle 5a. The plate member 51 is provided with a radially outwardly extending shoulder 53 which is engageable with an internal shoulder 54 on the collar 3a of the door arm which extends radially inwardly of the pintle receiving aperture 4a. The plate member 51 is spun over or peened over the shoulder 54 of the collar 3a as at 55 to retain the plate member in assembled condition with the door arm. It is preferred that the diameter of the plate member be slightly less than the inner diameter of the pintlereceiving aperture 4a and of the shoulder 53 in order not to interfere with the movement of the jaws of the collar during the clamping movement thereof which is accomplished in the manner as described above. As in the connector of Fig. 3, the collar 3a is split as at 6 to form a pair of jaws, only one, 7, of which is shown. Further, as in the connector of Fig. 3, the inner longitudinal edges of the jaws are relieved to form a keyway, and the pintle 5 is provided with a kew/ay having a V-shaped cross section. A key 21 having a square cross section is engaged between the keyway of the jaws and pintle for clamping therebetween by a screw 10 threadably received in an aperture 9 in the jaw 7 and engaging theother jaw as in the connector of Fig. 3.

As should be apparent, if it is desired to change the vertical position of the door arm relative to the pintle, itis merely necessary to thread the setscrew 50 axially of the pintle to the desired position. This means for vertically locating the door arm inherently precludes any possibilityof the supporting member such as the setscrew 50 from seizing the pintle and impeding removal of the door arm from the pintle and further will not lose any of its effectiveness even after extensively long periods of service.

As many changes could :be made in the above construction and many apparently widely different embodiments of this inventaion could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the language used in the following claims is intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

I claim:

1. A connection between a door and a door operator and the like comprising a vertically disposed pintle having a longitudinally extending keyway in the upper end thereof, said keyway having sides inclined inwardly of said pintle and toward each other, a hinge arm having means for mounting it on a door and having a collar with a pintle receiving aperture, said collar having a keyway disposed axially of and in communication with said aperture, the collar keyway having sides diverging inwardly of said aperture, a key constructed to be engaged between the inclined sides of said keyways, a slot in said collar extending longitudinally thereof and extending between the diverging sides of said collar keyway and radially of said aperture, and means on said collar to move the sides of said collar keyway toward each other to wedge said key into said pintle keyway.

2. Means for mounting a door hinge arm on the pintle of a door operator and the like comprising a vertically disposed pintle, a generally L-shaped hinge arm having door mounting means on itsllonger leg and having a collar on its shorter leg, said collar having a pintle receiving aperture extending axially thereof, a key of square cross section extending longitudinally of and between said pintle and said collar with two of its corners in radial align ment with said pintle, a keyway in said pintle conforming to and engaging two sides of said key, said collar being split to form a pair of clamping jaws the faces of which ,are in parallelism with and extend radially of the axis of said pintle receiving aperture, a pair of spaced apart bearing surfaces carried by said jaws and extending longitudinally of said collar and diverging inwardly of said aperture from said jaw faces to form a wedging keyway conforming to and engaging two adjacent sides of said key, and a screw engaged with both of said jaws to selectively move said jaws toward each other to wedge said key into said pintle keyway.

3.. .A connection between a door and a door operator and the like of the type having a vertically disposed pintle comprising a hinge arm having door mounting means and having a collar provided with a pintle receiving aperture, a threaded member supported on said collar and extending inwardly of said aperture for engagement with the pintle to vertically locate said hinge arm relative to the pintle, said threaded member being selectively adjustable inwardly and outwardly of said aperture, and means to clamp said collar to the vpintle to prevent rotation of the hinge arm relative to. the pintle when the hinge arm is in vertically located position comprising a pair of jaws on said collar movable relative to each other, said jaws being shaped to define a first vertical slot having inwardly diverging sides, a second vertical slot formed in said pintle, said second slot having outwardly diverging sides, a key engageable withthe sides of said first and second slots, and means for moving said jaws to wedge said key into engagement With the sides of said first and second slots.

4. A connection between a door and a door operator and the like of the type having a vertically disposed pintle comprising a hinge arm having means for mounting to a door and provided with a pintle receiving aperture, a supporting member connected to the hinge arm and extending axially inwardly of the pintle receiving aperture for engagement with one end of the pintle to locate the hinge arm longitudinally of the pintle, said sup porting member being selectively adjustable axially of said aperture, and means on the hinge arm to prevent rotation thereof relative to the pintle when the pintle is received in said aperture in longitudinally located position comprising a pair of jaws on the hinge arm movable relative to each other, said jaws being shaped to define a first vertical slot having inwardly diverging sides, a second vertical slot formed in said pintle, said second slot having outwardly diverging sides, a key engageable with the sides of said first and second slots, and means for moving said jaws to wedge said key into engagement with the sides of said first and second slots.

5. Means for mounting a door hinge arm on the pintle of a door operator and the like comprising a door hinge arm having door mounting means and provided with a collar having a pintle receiving aperture, a supporting member disposed axially of said pintle receiving aperture and connected to the collar, said supporting member being threadably adjustable axially of said aperture relative to the hinge arm and being provided with a bearing surface on one end supportingly engageable with one end of the pintle to vertically locate the hinge arm relative to the pintle, and means to non-rotatably connect the hinge arm to the pintle comprising a pair of clamping jaws on the collar, said jaws being shaped to define a first vertical slot having inwardly diverging sides, a second vertical slot formed in said pintle, said second slot having outwardly diverging sides, a key engageable with the sides of said first and second slots, and means for moving said jaws to wedge said key into engagement with the sides of said first and second slots.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 56,631 Stiles July 24, 1886 986,710 Henry Mar. 14, 1911 1,025,278 Kirchhoff May 7, 1912 2,544,253 Carlson et al. Mar. 6, 1951 2,770,004 Carlson Nov. 13, 1956 

